Mail-box.



C. E. TRAVIS,

MAH. BOX.

APPLICATION FILED APR.18.1911.

Patented Feb. 12, 1918.

tiren as rarer ernten.

CLYDE E. TRAVIS, 0F FAIRMON'I, WEST VIRGINIA.

MAIL-BOX.

raeaoeo.

Application filed April 18, 1917.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, VCitrine E. TRAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fairmont, in the county of Marion, State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Boxes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to mail boxes, it has particular reference to private mail boxes which combine the functions of delivery and collection receptacles.

The object of the invention is to provide a combination collection and delivery mail box, which, while being located so as to be exteriorly accessible to the mail man for the collection and the delivery of the mail, is also arranged to deliver the incoming mail into the house and to permit the insertion of outgoing mail into the box from the interior of the house. A further object of the invention, along the lines above pointed out, is to provide a single compartment box in conjunction with which superimposed chutes are arranged to act, alternately as delivery chute and means for depositing outgoing mail.

Furthermore, it is the object of the present invention to combine with la private mail box an alarm mechanism which is operative to be sounded both when mail is delivered into the box and collected therefrom. llVith the above objects in view, and such others as may hereinafter appear as relating to the details of construction, my invention will now be fully set forth and described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of the box with the front removed,

Fig. 2 is a section through the wall of a house having the box mounted thereon,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the box.

Fi g. 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, l .represents the box or receptacle which has embodied therein the several features of my invention, and, in furtherance of the principal object, is mounted upon the outside of the house wall a, transverse slots b and o cut through the wall a. registering with corresponding slots cut into the back Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb.. I2, i915..

Serial No. 162,938.

of the box l at 2 and 3. As best shown in F ig. 3, the slots 2 and 3 are provided, respectively, with the chutes 4 and T he chute `i, following the direction of the slots b and 2, inclines downwardly into the receptacle l so as to slide -any mail matter placed upon the inner end thereof within the house forwardly into the receptacle. The chute l enters the receptacle at the upper end of the latter and terminates just within the back thereof, so that letters dropping from the end of the chute will have a clear fall to the bottom of the receptacle, whence they may be removed through the door-way 6 in the side `of the box.

The chute 5 inclines in the opposite direction to the chute 4, and has its inner end extended into the box and terminated ust short of the inner-section of the plane of the chute 5 with that of the chute 4, so that the body of the chute 5 will not interfere with the fall of letters from the end of the chute 4. Hinged to the inner extremity of the chtite 5 is a leaf 7, which is normally dropped into the position shown in Fig. 3, the leaf falling of its own weight, and hanging below the end of the chute 5 so as not to interfere with the clearance from the end of the chtite 4.

The top of the box l is closed by a cover 8 which is hinged to the rear end of the box and inclines downwardly in a usual manner. Connected to the inside of the cover 8 is a flexible element 9 whose opposite end is secured to one free corner of the leaf 7, so that whenever the cover 8 is lifted, the hinged leaf will also be lifted and carried into the plane of the deector or chute 5. Obviously, in order to permit the leaf 7 to be carried past the front of the box in ahorizontal pcsition, it must fall short of the front in its extended position, and in order to close this open space and also to provide a stop to the upward movement of the leaf, a stop ledge or flange l0 is secured to the front wall of the box and projects therefrom into the path of movement of the leaf 7, so that the latter will strike therebelow in its upward movement.

In order to provide a warning and signal to the occupants of the house of the opening of the mail box either for the deposit or collection of mail, I provide an audible signal mechanism which may be arranged to sound at any point within the house, or may be mechanically sounded within the receptacle 1. In the present embodiment I have disclosed the bell 11 mountedl upon the rear wall of the receptacle upon a common base with the clapper mechanism 12. This mechanism consists of a casing within which is journaled a disk 13V which carries adjacent its periphery a plurality of arms 14. The

Y free end of the arms 14 carry the clappers 15 which, as the disk 13 is rotated, and the arms 14 are extended through centrifugal action successively strike the bell so that the latter is sounded with rapidly intermittent taps. The outer end of the shaft supporting the disk 13 is providedwith a drum 16 having a grooved friction surface around which is turned a cable 17. @ne end of the cable 17 is connected to a tensioned spring 18 secured to the wall of the receptacle, and the opposite end of the cable is connected to the inner face o't the door 67 the bight oi the cable having been rst carried around a grooved Y pulley 19 so as to properly direction the cable.l Conneeted'to an intermediate point of the cable 17 is a branch cable 20, which is also carried over the pulley 19 and then has its i'reeend connected to the lower extremity of a rod o-r link 21 which is suspended Vin pivotal relations from the inner face of the cover 8, so that as the latter is raised by the mail man, the cable 20 and through this the cable 17 will be drawn to'rotate drum 16. rlhis action will obviously'tension the spring 18, so that as soon as the cover 8 is released the cable will be withdrawn to rotate the drum 16 inthe opposite direction, so that the bell Awill be sounded both as the cover is raised and lowered. It should be noted at this point that the spring 18, through the cablesv and rod 21 will serve to draw the cover8 to its closed position. In like manner, when the door V6 is opened it draws the cable 17 directly against the tensionV of the spring 18 and rotates the drum 16 to sound the bell as previously described. A sto-p to the opening of the door 6 is provided by the toggle links 22, which are connected in proper relation to the inner surface of the door 6 i and the wall of thebox 1, and a rotatable Y' Y' Iknob 23 upon the free end` of the door 6 y is provided, the inner end of the stemof the knob carrying a rad1ally'pro]ected iinger 24 which maybe turned into engagement with the inner 'tace of the end wall ot the box to lock the door in its closed position.

' From the foregoing description which` discloses'the preferred embodiment ot my invention'7 it will be apparent that I have provided a simple and practical arrangement for the/most convenient collection and deliverycot mail, both tromthe View point of the'mail man and the recipients of the mail. By arranging the compactly constructed receptacle withV oppositely directed chutes in 1. The combination with a wall havinga pair of spaced lateral slots formedvtherein, of a receptacle having'siots registering with the first mentioned slots, a downwardly inclined chute extended through the upper one of the slots into the top ofthereceptacle, an

oppositely inclined chute entered' through theother side intov the receptacle below the tirst mentioned chute, and' means for extending the lower ehutebeyond the iirst mentioned chute to permit the passage of v from the box inteithe house. Y Y s Y 2. The combination with. al mail box7 of a downwardly inclined chute entered into the upper portion of Vthe box through its'rear wall, arsecond chute enteredinto the box below the first mentioned chute and inclined in the opposite direction, the first mentioned 'chuteextending into the box so that anextension of its planeoverflaps the extremity of the second chute, and an extension for the second chute adapted to'cause it to intersect said plane. A 'i f 3. The combination `with the inail boxn ofl a downwardly inclined chute entered into'the upper portion of the-box through its rear wall, a second chute entered into the'box below the first mentioned. chuteand inclined in the opposite direction the first mentioned chute extending intothe box so thatl an extension of itsrplane overlaps ythe Vextremity of the second chute, and a leaf hinged t0 the second chute for the purpose oiextending it across the plane Vofthe first chute,

4. The combination with a mail box ota downwardly inclined chute entered intothe upper portion of the boxV through-its rear wall, a second chute entered into the box below the irst mentioned chute andinclined in the opposite directionthe rst mentioned chute extending into the-box so thetan ex-A tension of itsV plane overlaps the ,l extremity ofthe second chute7 a leat1 hinged to the sec- 1 ond chute for the purpose of extending it across the plane of the first chute. a closure Y for the box', and means for littingtheleat into extended relation when' the closure is opened. Y

In testimonyfwhereof, I aiiix my.sign'aul- TRAVIS. .g Y

vGenies of this patent may be obtained for 've Vcenti each.l by' addres'singjthe- "Gommssionerrqffgamma Washington, D. C. i j i 

